The culmination of a lifetime of study, this comprehensive New Testament theology brings out the rich variety of New Testament thought while demonstrating its inner unity. New Testament theology, Donald Guthrie maintains, centers on Jesus Christ--his person, work and mission--and is unified by repeated emphasis on the fulfillment of Old Testament promise, community, the Spirit and the future hope. And extended introduction surveys the history, nature and method of New Testament theology and sets forth the distinctives of Guthrie's synthetic approach. Guthrie then examines New Testament thought under the thematic headings God, man and his world, Christology, the mission of Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Christian life, the church, the future, the New Testament approach to ethics, and Scripture. Within each chapter he explores the synoptic Gospels, the Johannine literature, Acts, Paul, Hebrews, the remaining Epistles and Revelation. Marked by scholarly rigor and thoroughness, this volume will serve as a standard reference and text, reflecting mature conservative scholarship at its best.

A comprehensive resume which attempts to present a synthetic theology based on the New Testament writings, acknowledging their historical context, and avoiding the imposition of subsequent doctrinal development. In effect, it attempts to discern, from a generally uncomplicated reading of the text, what Jesus and his immediate followers believed. The Greek text is quoted very sparingly, usually only in the discussion of single words, and the Jewish background is alluded to rather occasionally. Being a conservative evangelical, and so working from a position of acceptance of the authority and inspiration of Scripture, Guthrie clearly believes that such a synthesis is possible: that there is an fundamental unity to the theology of the New Testament which can be presented thematically, from the doctrine of God and the nature of Christ to the question of the authority of the Old Testament as seen by the writers of the New. This thematic presentation forms a useful counter to the more usual commentary on individual books or passages. Inevitably, Guthrie takes the least sceptical position in any matter of contention, and is not inclined to suppose that the text has been highly influenced by developments in the church of the first century (let alone that of the second), nor that any apparent tension between different writers can reflect any real contradiction.

MB 8-x-2012 ( )

An excellent reference source, useful for the student. Working through complexities can be difficult and this is not for the faint hearted. ( )

Biblical theology

Doctrinal Theology, N.T.